worry
Americanverb (used without object)
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worries,
present (3rd person singular)
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worried,
past participle, past
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worrying
present participle
-
to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.
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to move with effort.
an old car worrying uphill.
verb (used with object)
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worries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
worried,
past participle, past
-
worrying
present participle
noun
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worries
plural
-
a worried condition or feeling; uneasiness or anxiety.
- Synonyms:
- fear, misgiving, disquiet, solicitude, apprehension
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a cause of uneasiness or anxiety; trouble.
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the act of worrying.
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Fox Hunting. the action of the hounds in tearing to pieces the carcass of a fox.
verb phrase
idioms
verb
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to be or cause to be anxious or uneasy, esp about something uncertain or potentially dangerous
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(tr) to disturb the peace of mind of; bother
don't worry me with trivialities
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(intr; often foll by along or through) to proceed despite difficulties
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to struggle or work
to worry away at a problem
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(tr) (of a dog, wolf, etc) to lacerate or kill by biting, shaking, etc
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to bite, tear, or gnaw (at) with the teeth
a dog worrying a bone
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(tr) to move as specified, esp by repeated pushes
they worried the log into the river
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(tr) to touch or poke repeatedly and idly
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obsolete to choke or cause to choke
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informal you need not worry
noun
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a state or feeling of anxiety
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a person or thing that causes anxiety
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an act of worrying
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informal an expression used to express agreement or to convey that something is proceeding or has proceeded satisfactorily; no problem
Usage
What are other ways to say worry? The noun worry means “a worried condition or feeling.” How does worry compare to synonyms care and concern? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.
Synonym Usage
Worry, annoy, harass all mean to disturb or interfere with someone's comfort or peace of mind. To worry is to cause anxiety, apprehension, or care: to worry one's parents. To annoy is to vex or irritate by continued repetition of interferences: to annoy the neighbors. Harass implies long-continued disturbance, torment, or persecution: to harrass a creditor.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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worrysimple
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worriessimple
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have worriedperfect
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has worriedperfect
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am worryingprogressive
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are worryingprogressive
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is worryingprogressive
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have been worryingperfect progressive
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has been worryingperfect progressive
Past
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worriedsimple
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had worriedperfect
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was worryingprogressive
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were worryingprogressive
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had been worryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of worry
First recorded before 900; Middle English weryen, werwen, wyrwyn “to strangle, bite, harass,” Old English wyrgan “to strangle”; cognate with German würgen
Explanation
The verb worry is an anxious word; it means to be concerned or nervous. If you sent your carrier pigeon out in the morning to deliver a message, you might worry if it hadn't returned by the afternoon. When you worry, you feel uneasy — the way you might worry that you've got spinach in your teeth when you're at a job interview. When it's an animal doing the worrying, it takes on a different meaning: a dog will worry a bone — or gnaw on it and play with it, for hours. The word worry comes from the Old English wyrgan, which originally meant "strangle," and changed over the years to mean first "harass," and then "cause anxiety to."
Vocabulary lists containing worry
Motherlode: A Mother's Day Lexicon
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 5
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But that is no longer his only worry.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
But some worry about the expanding company’s effect on small neighborhood business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
"All they worry about is the coal they produce."
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
If the market starts to worry about U.S. debt levels and pushes up the rate of interest on Treasury bonds to compensate, this in turn pushes up the rates of return demanded by everything else.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
The lines and furrows in her face had to do with worry.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
"Fiscal worries mount for Burnham" reads the headline of the Financial Times, as it reports that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's "pick" for chief economic adviser has "declined the role".
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
“We’ll be guilty by association and we’ll just get crushed for it,” he worries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Everyone who pays rent, utilities and grocery bills and worries about what they’ll do if they have to face a sudden health crisis knows it.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
The climb in yields seen this summer has been blamed on worries about inflation, government spending and the volume of corporate debt issued by tech companies to fund capital expenditures on artificial intelligence.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
As a graduate student from a poor family, he also had money worries.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Others worried it could backfire in part by raising expectations that the Treasury Department will intervene anytime yields rise past certain key level—expectations that could be hard for Bessent to meet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
News agency TT reported that worried parents had gathered outside the school.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
The NAS is worried that breaking autism into smaller groups could lead to discrimination or the removal of support from people who need it.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Are they worried that David Ellison is going to make everyone move to Nashville? — the answer seems pretty simple and obvious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Normally, I’d be worried that the airline was trying to message me, that I’d miss the flight, but with every step forward, I feel lighter on my feet.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
“I later realized that a lot of it translated into him worrying about losing me next.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Chief executive Pia Sinha said this was "not unusual", but "some of the calls have been worrying and concerning".
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
For the more anxious set on Wall Street, it is a worrying sign that some tech companies that once seemed to have fortress balance sheets have needed to tap the capital markets frequently.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
And by the way, you are far from alone on worrying about running out of money.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
But Joe didn’t waste much time worrying about Mimi.
From "A Monster of a Mystery (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #5)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
